Pastel Slime Recipe - Inexpensive science experiment and hours of fun (2024)

“Slime” has become so popular lately! Kids of all ages seem to be mesmerized by it. As a Mom, I like it because it's fast and easy to make, teaches science and uses simple ingredients. Today, my 4 year old and I made some really pretty slime (is that an oxymoron or what!). We experimented with several different recipes (3 to be exact) until we found what worked best for us. Then we colored it in soft pastel colors in honor of Spring and made 4 batches. It worked perfectly every time. Check out our Pastel Slime Recipe below, the printable version is at the bottom of the page.

For our slime, we used Borax (found on the laundry aisle), white school glue, hotwater and food coloring.

(I tried the glitter in several of my earlier experiments and I didn't like the way it turned out because the white glue makes for an opaque slime so the glitter wasn't shiny. I think it would look pretty if you were using clear glue but I wanted to keep this recipe simple and inexpensive and white glue is quite a bit cheaper than clear glue. The white glue is also part of what makes for the soft pastel colors.)

First, mix 1 teaspoon of Borax with 2/3 cup hot water. Stir until the Borax is completely dissolved and set aside.

Next, pour 1 cup (or two 4 oz bottles) of white school glue into a large bowl. Mix the glue with 3/4 cup of hot water. Add 5-7 drops of food coloring and stir until combined. Add the Borax mixture to the glue mixture and stir with a fork or your hands. You should notice it coming together to form a solid mass pretty quickly.

It will look like a stretchy, slimy dough when you are finished. If there is some water left in the bowl, just pour it off.

In my opinion, this recipe will yield enough slime for 2-3 kids to play with. For additional colors, repeat the steps. It only took us about 5 minutes to make each batch of slime so making several colors isn't a big deal.

If I had to describe the texture of this slime, I would compare it to Silly Putty. But actually, slime is a liquid. Issac Newton studied the viscosity of liquids and found that temperature and stress can affect the viscosity or “flow” of certain liquids. When this happens it is called a “non-Newtonian” liquid. Older kids might enjoy looking up more information about non-Newtonian liquids and get a science lesson along with hours of slimy fun!

We enjoyed taking some of the slime and letting it “melt” or “flow” into each other and then twist it together. It made for beautiful slime (that is until you play with it for an hour and eventually it all mixed together and became gray). Another fun idea is to separate the slime into small snack sized baggies and put it inside plastic Easter eggs for unique and cheap Easter Egg fillers that AREN'T candy!

It is kind of addictive to play with. Even my teenagers came home and said, I want to play with some! BUT PLEASE NOTE that this recipe is not intended for young children who may put it in their mouth. Also, much like Silly Putty, if Slime sets on fabric or carpet for very long it will “melt” into the fibers and is darn near impossible to remove. Yes, I know this from experience!